“Hell isn't merely paved with good intentions; it's walled
and roofed with them. Yes, and furnished too” (Aldous Huxley)
The story of the Gadites and Reubenites upon entry into the
Promised Land, is a fascinating account.
It is recorded in Numbers 32:1-42.
In spite of the distractions, sins and
other issues that Israel had faced in their exodus from Egypt and journey to
Canaan, they had traveled together. Now,
Reuben and Gad asked
permission from Moses to settle on the eastern side of Jordan (an area
stretching from the Dead Sea in the south to the Sea of Galilee in the north). Their motivation was that they possessed lots of livestock and the land
was good for grazing. Moses gave them
the land they requested on the condition that they would fully participate in
the conquest of Canaan.
I was
wondering about this tribe Reuben. He
was the firstborn son of Jacob through Leah. Leah was the unloved wife of Jacob. She explains her choice of his name “…
Because the Lord has looked
upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me” (Genesis 29:32, ESV). Jacob’s deathbed blessing of Reuben in Gen 49:3–4 more closely resembles
a curse: ““Reuben,
you are my firstborn, my might, and the firstfruits of my strength, preeminent
in dignity and preeminent in power. Unstable as water, you shall not have
preeminence, because you went up to your father’s bed; then you defiled it—he
went up to my couch!” (Genesis 49:3–4, ESV)
Reuben’s sin
with Bilhah, his father’s concubine is the biblical reason that he lost his
firstborn rights. “The sons of Reuben the firstborn of
Israel (for he was the firstborn, but because he defiled his father’s couch,
his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel, so that he
could not be enrolled as the oldest so.” (1 Chronicles 5:1, ESV). The leadership role was passed to Joseph.
Whatever happened to these Reubenites that settled in the Transjordan
region? “It is also unclear when the tribe of Reuben
ceased to be a separate entity. The biblical references do not provide
definitive answers for whether the tribe retained its identity up to the
deportation by Tiglath-pileser III in 732 BC, or whether it had been absorbed
into other tribes at some point in the monarchical period.”[1]
“All the three tribes on the east of Jordan at length fell into complete
apostasy.”[2]
The
complaint against him in the song of Deborah is the summary of his whole
history.[3] In Judges 5:15–16 (ESV) we read:
“15 The princes of Issachar came with
Deborah, and Issachar faithful to Barak; into the valley they rushed at his
heels. Among the clans of Reuben there were great searchings of heart. 16
Why did you sit still among the sheepfolds, to hear the whistling for the
flocks? Among the clans of Reuben there were great searchings of heart.”
Searching your heart or good intentions, without the resolve
to leave what is quiet and comfortable is irresponsible. “Plans are only good intentions unless they
immediately degenerate into hard work” (Peter Druker). “The people of the tribe of Reuben (in the Transjordan), who were
inactive and content to be engaged only with the mundane, at least considered
sending some men, but they did not.”[4]
The
Reubenites go down in history as a people of good intentions and great
indecision.
[1] Wright, J. S. (2012, 2013, 2014). Reuben, Son of
Jacob. In J. D. Barry, L. Wentz, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair-Wolcott, R.
Klippenstein, D. Bomar, … D. R. Brown (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[2] Easton, M. G. (1893). In Easton’s Bible dictionary. New York: Harper & Brothers.
[3] Easton, M. G. (1893). In Easton’s Bible dictionary. New York: Harper & Brothers.
[4] Barry, J. D., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Mangum, D.,
& Whitehead, M. M. (2012). Faithlife
Study Bible (Jdg 5:16). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
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